Panaji: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused the previous government of giving priority to vote banks over infrastructure development in the country.Speaking after inaugurating a new international airport at Mopa in North Goa, he said, ‘Earlier governments gave priority to vote banks in place of infrastructure development and because of that infrastructure were neglected. This international airport of Goa is an example of the same. It was an old demand that Goa required another airport. This airport was planned during Atal Behari Bajpayee’s government but the next government did nothing. When we came came to power, I laid the foundation stone six years back.’‘This airport is a proof of the changed approach of the government towards infrastructure. Due to the attitude of the earlier government, air travel had become a luxury.
Only those who were well off could take benefits of air travel. Investments were not made in airport development which resulted in lagging behind. But now the country is witnessing advanced development,’ he said.
The Prime Minister said after independence there were only 70 airports but during the last eight years, as many as 72 airports have been developed.
‘Today India has become the third largest aviation market in the world. Udaan Yojana has fulfilled the dreams of the common man,’ he said.
The Prime Minister said that India has made all the efforts to increase ease of travel by focusing on last mile connectivity and addressing Visa related issues.
He said the new airport has a capacity of handling 40 lakh passengers (per annum) and it can increase to 3.5 crore in the coming years.
‘This will definitely help the tourism sector. Goa’s potential of becoming a cargo hub has increased immensely,’ he said.
